Sowing the seeds of trust
A leader’s guide to building trust in teams
I’ve worked in the service industry for almost 2 decades. I’ve played many roles, interacted with many different personality types and dealt with the eccentricities of many weird ones. Before you ask, yes, I’ve had my share of supportive co-workers and bosses, many of whom are the reason I am where I am today.
Looking back at my journey, I realize that the one thing that separates the good teams from the ‘not-so-good ones’ and that one thing is ‘trust’.
Here are 3 reasons why trust matters:
- Trust is to a team what cement is to a wall: This analogy merely states that trust is the cement that binds the team together. Tell me, how would a team that trusts each other completely perform better, as compared to a team that mistrusts? The answer is obvious.
- Trust builds confidence: Taking a step ahead is easier if we know that someone has our back. Teams that trust, are more confident and better able to progress.
- Trust promotes development of new ideas: Trust in the team provides a secure place for sharing and creation of new ideas.
Who plants the seeds of trust? The leader
What builds trust? A sense of justice at the workplace inspires trust.
I can’t agree more with Gary Vaynerchuk, who rightly pointed out: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/activity:6512312588410327040/
It doesn’t matter if an employee or team member is your best performer — if he makes the rest of your team miserable, he should go, he should be fired!
It is the responsibility of a leaders or an employer to audit their team, without bias, without personal relationships getting in their way and answer these questions truthfully.
- Am I letting one (or a few) member/s of my team feel superior to the others?
- Am I overlooking the fact that my team feels they are being unjustly treated due to the bad behavior or politicking of a certain member/s?
- Does my team feel a sense of injustice prevailing at work?
There’s nothing worse for a team or an organization than an employee or a bunch of them, who are emotionally draining the others — who carry tales, who will go to any ends to show another in a bad light.
I understand it is a bad feeling to let go of a super performer, who is also a louse, just so that the rest of the team feels a sense of trust. Being a leader you know the impact it will have on your (sales) numbers.
But, let me point this out —
A super performer cum louse is never a team player. He will work for himself and his glory alone. He will let you fall like a ton of hot potatoes if someone else offers him a better deal. His current loyalties to you are only because of the benefits he sees, not because he loves working for you.
On the other hand, it is highly probable that your bunch of average performers are highly loyal to you. They will stand with you through thick and thin, when you are in favorable or unfavorable conditions. Their loyalty won’t be impacted by hard times and difficult situations. They will work together to complement each others inadequacies and before you know it, you are out of the rut, sailing together toward a favorable future.
As a leader, the decision is yours to make. It’s simple math, really. Whom will you bet your last penny on?
-Christabelle
